Thursday 30 October 2008

Forever Young: delightful - Dylan Bookshelf #139

Forever Young is a new children’s book in which illustrator Paul Rogers visualises scenes from the lyrics of the classic song from Planet Waves, with other references from across the Dylan catalogue.

It’s a delight – children of all ages will love it.

In case you miss the Dylan references hidden in the pictures, Rogers kindly spells most of them out at the back, with the help of a couple of pages of thumbnails. If you spot more than half without cheating, count yourself a remarkably alert Dylan guru.

Forever Young by Bob Dylan, illustrated by Paul Rogers (Simon & Schuster Oct 2008, large format hardback, 36pp, £12.99 – discounted at amazon.co.uk).

Forever Young is the 139th book added to my groaning Dylan bookshelf.


Gerry Smith

Monday 27 October 2008

New Dylan cover for free magazine

Collectors will be searching out a new Dylan cover – albeit a back cover – on the latest (ie Sept/Oct) issue of HMV Choice, the retailer’s in-store magazine.

The Dylan cover uses a mid-‘60s (polka dot shirt) portrait by Dale Smith, with the overprinted extract from A Red, Red Rose, the Robert Burns poem used by HMV in their My Inspiration promo campaign.

The inside back cover has a portrait of, er, Joan Baez, from the same promo campaign.


Gerry Smith

Wednesday 22 October 2008

Dylan on Dylan and I'm Not There – heavily discounted

Thanks to Martin Cowan:

“I thought Dylan Books readers would like to know that branches of HMV are currently offering Jonathan Cott's book, Dylan on Dylan, for £3 (RRP £8.99) and the DVD of I'm Not There as part of their 3 for £20 promotion.”

(And Fopp, HMV’s recently acquired subsidiary, is also discounting the single DVD version of I'm Not There – to £8 the last time I visited a Fopp store. Gerry Smith)

Wednesday 15 October 2008

Paperback edition of The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia

Updating his Bob Dylan Encyclopedia for the new paperback edition, Michael Gray took the opportunity to add new entries covering major recent events and product in the Dylan world.

Gray’s new edition reflects the widening array of Dylan-related activity, assessing product as varied as a CD - Modern Times, an art show - Drawn Blank, and two major DVD releases – I’m Not There and the Other Side Of The Mirror.

For the new material, Gray employs his well-established technique of mixing straight reporting with tough critical assessment. You might not always agree with him, but his combative tone consistently challenges you to think through your own opinions.

Apart from its intrinsic value, the new edition – which should be on any Dylan fan’s bookshelves - serves as a reminder of Gray’s pre-eminence as a Zim commentator.

Long before it became fashionable, Gray demonstrated, single-handedly, why Dylan is a great writer, to be considered alongside the giants of serious literature.

Song and Dance Man, Gray’s ground-breaking study from 1972, demonstrated to the first wave of Bobfans just why Dylan was special – why he was marching well in front of the trailing line of rock musos with whom he’d hitherto been associated.

Countless Dylan fans are indebted to Michael Gray.



Gerry Smith


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EARLIER RELATED ARTICLE:

NEW: paperback Bob Dylan Encyclopedia, with updates, out tomorrow

Continuum publishes the paperback edition of Michael Gray's Bob Dylan Encyclopedia tomorrow, in both London and New York. The text has been updated by new entries and amendments to many of the entries in the hardback. To keep the price down, the new edition doesn’t include a CD-ROM.

Here’s how The Dylan Daily greeted the hardback edition:

"The Encylopedia majors on its author's unparalleled expertise, his critical judgment and a ready intelligence and authorial finesse…in three quarters of a million words, he paints a massive canvas. Over 730 pages, its daunting breadth of coverage and sheer level of detail is deeply impressive… destined to be the most important Bob Dylan book, bar none."



* New entries:

Blues [2006]
Bob Dylan: The Collection [2006]
Bob Dylan: The Drawn Blank Series [2007]
Carthy, Martin
Dennis-Dylan, Desiree [1986 - ]
Dylan [2007]
Dylan, last solo concert by [1965]
Haynes, Todd [1961 - ]
I'm Not There [film, 2007]
Lerner, Murray [192? - ]
Man Without Papers, The [TV drama, 1965]
Modern Times [2006]
Other Side Of The Mirror, The [film, 2007]
Paradise Cove [film, 1999]
Ronson, Mark
65 Revisited [film, 2006]
21st Century Dylan songs written for films
White, Jack


* Updated entries:

Alk, Howard
Alvin, Dave
'Am I Your Stepchild?'
American Civil War in World Gone Wrong, the
Animals, the
'Angelina'
Aufray, Hugues
Ball, Gordon
Barker, Derek & Tracy
Baudelaire
Berry, Chuck
Betts, Dickey
Blowin' In the Wind
blues, external signals of Dylan's interest in
Bob Dylan Greatest Hits
Bob Dylan Greatest Hits Vol. II
Bootleg Series Vol.5
Bridge, The
Bringing It All Back Home
Brown, Richard Rabbit
'Brownsville Girl'
Bruce, Jack
Bruton, Stephen
Campbell, Larry
Campbell, Mike
Carmichael, Hoagy
Charles, Larry
Chronicles Volume One
Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem
Clapton, Eric
Cohen, John
co-option of real music by advertising, the
Cross, Billy
Dennis, Carolyn
Diaz, Cesar
'Dignity'
Domino, Fats
Don't Look Back
Drawn Blank [1994]
Dunn, Tim
Dylan [1973]
earliest extant recordings, Dylan's
Elliott, Ramblin' Jack
Epstein, Howie
Estes, Sleepy John
folk music, American, black
Freeman, Denny
Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, The: withdrawn early version
Fremerman, Elana
Fuller, Blind Boy
Garnier, Tony
Gleason, Ralph J.
Goldberg, Barry
Goldstein, Harvey
Grateful Dead, the
'The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar'
guitars, Bob Dylan's acoustic
Guthrie, Woody
Haggard, Merle
Hammond, John
Hammond, John Jr.
Harrison, George
Helm, Levon
Hendrix, Jimi
Herdman, John
Herron, Donnie
Hibbing rock'n'rollers
Highway 61 Revisited
Hinton, Nigel
Horowitz, David
Howlin' Wolf
Humphries, Patrick
Hunter, Robert
Ian & Sylvia
'In Search of Little Sadie'/'Little Sadie'
Jackson, John
James, Elana
Jean, Wyclef
Johnnie & Jack
Jones, Mickey
Jones, Norah
Kalb, Danny
Kegan, Larry
Kershaw, Doug
Kimball, Stuary
King, Clydie
Kooper, Al
Kramer, Daniel
Kweskin, Jim
LaFarge, Pete
Lesh, Phil
Levy, Dan
Lightfoot, Gordon
Lightnin' Hopkins
Like A Rolling Stone
Lomax, Alan
'Love Henry'
McTell, Blind Willie
Madhouse On Castle Street, the
Marcus, Greil
Marsalis, Wynton
Masterpieces
Mayall, John
Maymudes, Victor [1935 - 2001]
Memphis Minnie
Meyers, Augie
Mitchell, Joni
Muddy Waters
Muir, Andrew
Muldaur, Maria
Murphy, Elliott
musical accompanists to Dylan, other
Nelson, Paul
Neville, Aaron
nursery rhyme on Under the Red Sky
Pagel, Bill
Pennebaker, D.A.
'People Get Ready'
Petty, Tom
Presley, Elvis
Poe, Edgar Allan
Quintana, Charlie
Raney, Wayne
Ray, Dave
Receli, George
Richards, Keith
Ricks, Christopher
Rimbaud, Arthur
Rinzler, Ralph
Rivera, Scarlet
Rosen, Jeff
Rotolo, Suze
Sahm, Doug
Savakus, Russ
Scaduto, Anthony
Schatzberg, Jerry
Scheff, Jerry
Sedgwick, Edie
Self Portrait
Sexton, Charlie
Sinatra, Frank
Smith, Warren
Spoelstra, Mark
Springs, Helena
Stanley Brothers, the
Stanley, Ralph
Stewart, Dave
'Tangled Up In Blue'
Taylor, Mick
Tedeschi, David
Tench, Benmont
Time Out Of Mind
Thompson, Toby
U2